Hey guys
I’m the proud dad of two fur friends: a dog named Dust, and a cat named Freya. Recently, Dust, who’s only 2 years old, had to undergo surgery for hip dysplasia. The surgery went well, but the recovery process was tough and long, with lots of medications, vet appointments, and other care needs. My wife and I had to gather a lot of information about dust and carry it around wherever we went.
We used a calendar for appointments and mostly Apple Reminders for medications and other stuff, but tracking everything (alongside Freya’s usual medications) was a hassle.
As a developer, I started looking for a tool to make this process easier, but I couldn’t find anything that fit our needs. So, I have a few questions for fellow pet owners:
- How do you track medications, vaccines, vet visits, and general info for your pets? Do you do it manually?
- Have you tried any apps or tools to make it easier, especially if you have more than one pet?
Based on our experience, I started building a web app for my wife and me to manage Dust’s and Freya’s care. Like vet visits, past issues, upcoming reminders, etc. I’m also thinking it should be easily shareable with external people (like petsitters or vets) so they have a full picture from the get-go — an extended ID card for them in the form of a shareable link.
If you think this idea is interesting or useful, please let me know what features you’d like to see in such a tool. I’m interested in getting your feedback.
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I just write things out on our fridge calendar, so I would love an app like this.
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Ah, the old post-it method haha 
I guess if you have more than one pet your fridge can get crowded.
Anything in particular you’d like to see in an app like this other than reminders? It’d be a web app, btw — I think we’re all tired of having to add an app to the phone for everything
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I have a physical health record, which is usual in my country, in which the vet puts the information on what has been done, and the date for the next vaccines, like for a human.
My dog also takes anxiolytics twice a day, so I have a therapy app to remind me to give him his meds.
I have two calendar reminders for the worming pills and the pest medication. It would be good to have an app that allows me to centralize all the meds’ reminders at least, though it’s not necessary to me. Being able to share it would be great though!
What I can’t seem to find is an app to track reactive dogs’ progress. Noticed one created in Canada, but it’s not available in my country unfortunately.
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Thanks for the tip: Well, does not it get quite complex though:. For instance, many tools perform various functions. This is something that we had as well almost exclusively in Calendar events and reminders. We also have the post-it notes for emergent events that one cannot afford to forget.
That is why if one has on app that could offer all the listed options might help to centralize it and thus make tracking easier over the time.
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And I use a little notebook for my baby’s insulin, which she takes 2x a day. No need to write down her meds. Will have a notebook if needed. Always write down all meds taken.
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Thanks for the insight…
So then you build several notebooks over or I guess one is enough for years? Do you like this process or think something could be easier or even automated?
Just thinking about this tool, and if there’s an actual need for it. I probably will build it anyway just so that me and my wife can solve our problems, but it’s good to hear from other people as well.
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I have done only keeping up with when I give my baby her insulin shots. But for myself, I used to keep up with the meds, when I took them and what meds I was taking, after OHS. Still do it somewhat, including with my diabetes meds. Many do their own on the computer. Everyone has a method. You will be hearing from the computer geeks here soon.